Automatic water-treating apparatus.



L. D. KINZlG.

AUTOMATIC WATER TREATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6. 1914.

1,147,736. Patented July 27, 1915;

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

O O Q Wilnesses: In z/enl'fir COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH CO-.WASHINGTON, 0.1:

L.'D; KINZIG.

AUTOMATIC WATER TREATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FIITED FEB. 6, I914.

1,1473%. Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L. D. KINZIG. AUTOMATIC WATER TREATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6. I914.

Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPIH (IO-,WASHINGTON, D. c.

s'rar rear 1" r ornicn.

LOUIS D. KINZIG, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOB NORTHERN WATER SOFTENER COL, A CORPORATION OF 'MAINE.

AUTOMATIC WATER-TREATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 2'7, 1915.

Application filed February 6, 1 914. Serial No. 816,899.

My invention has for its object to produce a simple and novel water treating apparatus which shall be efiicient in operation and, without containing delicate mechanisms or parts, will give sensitive regulation of the water to be treated and the chemical so as to maintain uniform proportions at all times.

Subsidiary objects of my invention are to maintain accurately a constant head on the raw water supplied through a fixed orifice; to maintain a constant head above the discharge orifice in the chemical supplying means; to insure permanency of area in the discharge orifice for the chemical; and to agitate the chemical in such a way that the body of chemical liquid from which the supply is drawn remains uniform in character during the operation of the apparatus. The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the follow- I through a fragment of the chemical tank;

and Fig. 5 is a section on an enlarged scale through the receiving end of the chemical pipe.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a large reservoir for containing a supply of treated water; a vertical partition, 2, being arranged adjacent to one side of the reservoir and extending from the top to a point somewhat above the bottom. The partition divides the reservoir into two chambers, one a small receiving chamber and the other a large storage chamber communicating at the bottom with the bottom of the receiving chamber.

Mounted upon the top of the reservoir is a chemical tank, 3, the bottom of which is preferably made Vshaped and projects some distance below the top of the reservoir. IVater to be treated is received through a supply pipe, 4, extending across the top of the reservoir and having a valved branch, 5, through which the chemical tank may be filled when desired. The discharge end of the supply pipe terminates above the receiving chamber in the reservoir and is reduced in size as indicated at a so that there will be an appreciable pressure within the discharge orifice whenever a full stream is flowing therefrom.

6 is a float chamber connected to the supply pipe just before the discharge end is reached. In the float chamber is a float, 7, having a stem, 8, connected to a lever, 9, fulcrumed upon a suitable stationary support as, for example, on the chemical tank. One end of the lever 9 is connected to a valve, 10, arranged in the water pipe in advance of the connection between the water pipe and the float chamber. In advance of the valve 10 is another valve, 11, controlled by a suitwhich empties into the receiving chamber of the main reservoir. The connection between the pipe 15 and the conduit 16 is such that the pipe 15 may swing, about this connection as the float 14 rises and falls. The float end of the pipe 15 has a horizontal cross pipe, 17, connected thereto and arranged in suitable bearings, 18, located on the under side of the float. As the float rises and falls, there is a relative rotary move ment between the pipe 17 and the bearings 18 which permits the float to remain horizontal. One end of the pipe 17 has an upward extension, 19, which is long enough to project above the liquid by which the float is supported and thus at all times connects the pipe 15 with atmosphere so that no vacuum can form in this pipe. The other end of the pipe 17 terminates below the bottom of the float in a restricted, orifice, 17*, the orifice being surrounded by a suitable screen or strainer, 20. This end of the pipe serves as the inlet for the chemical liquid and is always held by the float at a fixed distance below the liquid level in the chemical tank.

In the discharge conduit 16 for the chem? ical is a valve, 21, connected by suitable lever mechanism, 22, to one end of the float-conweaken the chemical mixture. -fore desirable that after the steam has imtrolled lever 9.

In the upper end of the chemical tank, and near one side thereof, is a small horizontal pipe, 30, having a series of depending branches, 31, which terminate at their lower ends in enlarged nozzles, 32, lying parallel with one of the inclined sides of the bottom ofthe tank and extending in proximity to the lowermost point of the bottom. Between the pipe 30 and each of the branches 31 is a restricted nozzle, 33, forming the only communication between the pipes 30 and 31. The pipe 30 is adapt-ed to receive air under pressure and distribute it through the branch pipes, 31, and the enlarged nozzles, 32, into the bottom of the chemical tank so as to agitate the chemical. In order to avoid the use of an air pump or compressor, I make use of an injector device actuated by steam. However, this arrangement, if the steam were allowed to pass with the air into the agitator, might result in introducing into the chemical mixture water in the form of condensed steam in such quantities as to It is therepa'rted its energy or some ofit to the air it be condensed and separated from the air. In the arrangement shown, steam is supplied through a pipe, 40, and, in passing to a pipe 41 it draws in air through a connection, 42, the steam and air entering the pipe 41 together. The pipe 41 is bent into the form of a loop, 43, lying below the normal water level in the main reservoir and presenting a considerable surface to be cooled by contact with the water in the reservoir. The

The operation is as follows: The chemical tank is filled with water from the pipe 4 through the branch 5 to any desired level and the proper amount of chemical to produce a mixture of the desired strength is added. Uponadmitting steam into the pipe 40, air is drawn in and a mixture of air and steam flows through the pipe 41 and loop 43, the steam beingcondensed in the loop and being carried into the cylinder 44 in the form of liquid water. Vi ater is discharged through the pipe 45 and enters the main reservoir, while the air continues up through the cylinder and finally reaches the pipe 30 in the chemical tank. The nozzles between the pipe 30 and the branch pipes 31 serve as pressure reducing devices so that the pressure in the branches is normally lower than in the pipe 30. Since the nozzles 32 are considerably larger in diameter than the branch pipes to which they are connected, a further reduction in pressure occurs in these nozzles, theair finally entering the bottom of thechemical tank at a much lower pressure than that at which it is supplied to the pipe 30 and agitating the chemical mixture eflectively. If for any reason the discharge orifice of one of the nozzles 32 becomes clogged, the pressure in the nozzle and the corresponding branch pipe will rise gradually until it equals the pressure in the pipe 30 and therefore, because of the considerable area which the obstruction in the nozzle will present to the air in the nozzle, the obstruction will be blown out so as to leave the nozzle clear. With this arrangement there is no danger that one or more of the main nozzles will become stopped up and thus interfere with the proper agitation of the chemical. Assuming the water in the main reservoir to be below the high water level, so that the valve 11 in the water supply pipe will be wide open: Water flows through the pipe 4 and out of the reduced discharge end, 5, into the receiving chamber of the reservoir; the resistance which the water encounters at the reduced end of the pipe, or discharge orifice, causing the water to back up into the float chamber 6 and lift thefloat therein. As soon as the float begins to rise it begins to close the valve 10 and thus cuts down the flow of water until a condition of equilibrium is obtained. In this way it is possible to obtain a uniform head upon the water flowing through the discharge upon the water level in the main reservoir,

and does not otherwise regulate the volume of water. a

The parts are so designed that when the float 7 is down, that is when no water is be ing delivered to thereservoir, the chemical valve 21 will be closed, thus insuring thatno chemical will be delivered when no water is flowing. When the float 7 rises, upon turning on the water as heretofore explained, it opens the chemical valve so as to allow the full flow of chemical. When the apparatus is shunt down the chemical flows through the orifice 17 until the pipe 15 is full so that when the apparatus is again started, the body of chemical stored in the pipe 15 will be discharged, thus compensating for the mass of raw water which is delivered before the float 7 begins to act. Thereafter the pipe 15 serves simply as a large conduit which conveys the chemical from the receiving orifice to the discharge valve and does not in any Way control the flow of chemical. If for any reason the float should rise so high as to close the Water valve 11 and thus shut off the water, it will be seen that all of the water on the discharge side of the valve 11, namely that in the float chamber and between the fioat chamber and the discharge orifice, would drain out of the discharge orifice and permit the float to drop and thus shut off the chemical, so that under no circumstances can the chemical continue to flow after the water has stopped flowing. By having the inlet orifice of the chemical pipe submerged, it will always remain clean and therefore of constant area. As the chemical level in the tank3 varies, the float l4 rises and falls, but always keeps the inlet orifice at a predetermined distance below the chemical level, regardless of what that level is. Therefore, the area of the chemical inlet orifice being constant and the head of the chemical being constant, the rate of flow of the chemical when the discharge valve is open will also be constant. As heretofore explained, the rate at which the water is delivered is constant and therefore, since the same is true with respect to the chemical, the proportioning of the water to be treated and the chemical liquid may be very accurately done. At the same time there are no delicate mechanisms which can easily get out of order so as to require careful attention in 1 order to make the proportioning accurate, so

that very accurate proportioning is obtained automatically with no further care than that there shall be a supply of chemical in the chemical tank; and, because the amount of the chemical liquid in the tank is immaterial, itvvill be suificient to fill the chemical tank from time to time so as merely to prevent it from becoming empty.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single. preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be.

limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described, but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which fall within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a water treating apparatus, a water supply pipe, means for maintaining a constant head at the discharge orifice in the said pipe, a chemical supply pipe having a restricted receiving orifice, and a valve in said chemical supply pipe controlled by the aforesaid means.

2. In a water treating apparatus, a water supply pipe, means for maintaining a constant head at the discharge orifice in said pipe, a chemical tank, a chemical delivery pipe having a submerged orifice in said tank, and means for maintaining a constant head at said orifice.

3. In a water treating apparatus, a water supply pipe, means for maintaining a constant head at the discharge orifice in said pipe, a chemical tank, a chemical delivery pipe having a submerged orifice in said tank, and means for moving the latter pipe so as to maintain the chemical inlet orifice at a constant distance below the level of the chemical in the tank regardless of the amount of chemical in the tank.

4:. In a water treating apparatus, a water supply pipe, means for regulating the head at the discharge orifice in said water supply pipe, a chemical supply pipe, a valve in said chemical supply pipe and connections be tween the aforesaid means and said valve for maintaining the valve open when the head at the discharge orifice in the water supply pipe is within predetermined limits and for closing said valve when the said head falls below the lower valve.

In a water treating apparatus, a water supply pipe having a reduced discharge orice, a float ch amber arranged above and connected. to said pipe in advance of the orifice, a valve in said pipe in advance of the connection between the same and the float chamber, a float in said chamber and a con-- nection between said float and said valve.

6. In a water treating apparatus, a water supply pipe having a reduced discharge orifice, a chemical supply pipe, means for maintaining a constant head on the chemical inlet in said pipe, a valve in said chemical supply pipe, means for maintaining a constant head at the discharge orifice in said water supply pipe, and a connection between the latter ber, and'a connection between said'fioat and means and said valve. said valve. 1 10 7. In a water treating apparatus, a water In testimony whereof, I sign this specisupply pipe having a reduced discharge orification in the presence of two witnesses.

5 fice, a valve in said pipe, a float chamber lying above the discharge orifice and connected with the pipe between the discharge orifice and said valve, a float in said cham- WVitnesses: p

W. F. FRENDENREIOH, RUTH E. ZETTERVALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

LOUIS D. KINZIG, 

